Elgin Park

Elgin Park

Smith says he leaves people out of the pictures on purpose. "I want people to look at the picture, and I want people to visit with their mind. I love that sense of quietness, and I was here by myself," he says.

Courtesy Michael Paul Smith

Elgin Park

Smith says there are plenty of doubters -- people who've accused him of somehow faking or doctoring his photographs. But he says there is no special editing involved.

Courtesy Michael Paul Smith

Elgin Park

"What I'm finding is making my models isn't a hobby, but it's preserving the past, things we just don't know any more," he says. "I'm a one-man historian."